Tutu Kanyako Foundation Leads On Peer To Peer Engagement Enhancing Community Understanding On Negative Impacts Of Drugs Among Young People In Kambia District

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Last updated: 2022/12/15 at 8:09 AM

By Sallu Kamuskay Published December 15, 2022 192 Views 8 Min Read

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Tutu Kanyako Foundation Leads On Peer To Peer Engagement Enhancing Community Understanding On Negative Impacts Of Drugs Among Young People In Kambia District

Tutu Kanyako Foundation (TKF), a community-based organization working on Education and Agriculture to Empower humanity and trigger them to take responsibility to live in a just society has on the 14th November 2022 together with its partner Action For Youth and Children’s Network (AYCN) engage stakeholders, religious leaders, musicians and civil society organizations on a one day Peer To Peer Engagement Enhancing Community Understanding On the Negative Impacts Of Drugs Among Young People at the Kambia District council.

Young people are valuable resources to promote and sustain the development of any nation. For years now, greater attention has been placed on these young people for inclusive and participatory governance at all levels. However, it has been clear that the rate at which young people are taking drugs if not checked will contribute to a drastic reduction in the potential of these youth.

According to the United Nations Office on Drug Abuse. In 2008, Sierra Leone was identified as one of the major gateways in West Africa for cocaine trafficking. The most prominent case has been the landing of a private aircraft at Lungi International Airport in July 2008 with 700 kg of cocaine on board. The UN Police (UNPOL) has been very active in strengthening anti‐drug law enforcement capacities, notably with the set up of a Joint Drug Interdiction Task Force (JDITF). This unit brings together all competent law enforcement agencies with a view to increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the fight against drug trafficking.

Despite the effort made, the intake of drug among young and old people continue to be a challenge, the coming of Kush in the past few years put young and old people lives at risk with many of them abusing and misusing drug.

The recent survey in Kambia District done by Tutu Kanyako Foundation and its partner AYCN shows that 176 out of 200 young people they interviewed take drugs or alcohol. According to them in the next 10 years New health emergencies will emerge, Founder of the AYCN Mr Alie Conteh, during the launch of the “Nor Gie, Nor Take Campaign said ” This campaign is titled Peer to Peer because as young people, we want to engage our stakeholders and give them the power to understand the impacts of alcohol and drugs abuse among young people and for us to work together with these stakeholders and young people to engage young people across the districts to put an end in drug abuse” he further went on to thank the founder of the lead organization Tutu Kanyako Foundation who is currently based in Canada for leading and extending the partnership to work with them “I want to thank Madam Victoria Kromah commonly known as Tutu Kanyanko Foundation based in Canada for partnering with us”

Speaker after speaker spoke about the need of the negative impacts of drugs and alcohol in Kambia and the country as a whole, Mr. Santigie Jeremiah Sesay, District Coordinator for the Tutu Kanyako Foundation in Kambia District said ” The amount of drug intake in Kambia District is becoming alarming, as an organization that works with and for young people in empowering them, we become victims if we don’t take responsibility, our Agriculture work with young people in the villages where we work is affected because most of them are seriously engage in drug abuse, our hope after this engagement with the support from the stakeholders and other youth organizations is to start community engagement with young people on the negative impacts of drug abuse and also empower religious leaders to use their institutions to talk about the negative effect of drug and alcohol.” he ended.

Mr. Santigie Jeremiah Sesay, District Coordinator for the Tutu Kanyako Foundation

Lead Chairlady of the event and leader of the Sierra Leone Alcohol Policy Alliance, Madam Isatu Kamara said that the issue of drug abuse is becoming alarming, she further stated that she was saddened when she watch a video of security personnel on social media acting in a disorderly manner breaks her heart.” It is immense considering the location of the district as it is a cross border district, we are having a lot of challenges in these areas” she added.

Daniel T Kargbo, who is a popular musician in Kambia District together with his colleague join the campaign by doing a song against the abuse and misuse of drugs and alcohol. During an interview, he said “This is a very important campaign as the issue of drug abuse is becoming alarming, We are happy to have used our talents to do a song dedicated to putting an end to the misuse and abuse of drugs”

A representative of the RSLAF during the event said “I am very much impressed and happy to see what you are doing here this morning, this is the first event I have attended since I moved here. I would like to thank the Tutu Kanyako Foundation and its partners for organizing such an event, I learned a lot during the presentation made by the speaker. I would to state that we are committed to providing our service to achieve this goal together with the partner organizations” he ended.

Mohamed Alim Conteh, Youth Leader in Kambia District reiterated the importance of the engagement and noted his unflinching support for the campaign “I have pledged myself as a youth leader to give all my support to this campaign to see that we achieve this because drug abuse has been alarming in the Kambia District.

Mohamed Alim Conteh Youth Leader Kambia District

Tutu Kanyako Foundation (TKF) is a community-based organization working on Education and Agriculture to Empower humanity and triggered them to take responsibility, live in a just society, develop processes to improve the quality of their lives, and ensure a society that perfects humanity.
•AYCN is youth based organization established to create the necessary platform for young people to actualize their dreams and aspirations

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By Sallu Kamuskay

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Sallu Kamuskay is a Sierra Leonean communication strategist, fixer, blogger, youth organiser, event manager, spokesperson, and public relations expert. His work has been regularly referenced and published by national and international media and public policy institutions. Sallu Kamuskay was a child during the brutal war in Sierra Leone. Growing up in the midst of conflict, Sallu witnessed unimaginable abuse of children and gross violations of human rights. The horrors he witnessed during the Civil War had a terrible impact on him at a very tender age. But despite the shock of the war, Sallu never lost hope. He started on a journey of recovery, studying, and working for a better future. At age 15, Sallu entered into the world of activism and advocacy. Sallu Kamuskay was the Vice President of the Young Leaders Organisation, a member of the National Youth Council. The Young Leaders is one of the oldest youth-led organisations in West Africa. The organisation was formed by a group of young leaders, and launched by the then Head of State/President of Sierra Leone. Sallu was part of the group of young leaders who participated in and contributed to the establishment of the National Youth Council. The Commonwealth supported the training for trainers programme with line ministries and youth stakeholders in which key, representatives of youth council, student union and civil society/private sector youth platforms were engaged and empowered in the effective engagement and inclusion of youth. Sallu is co-founder and Executive Director of the Salone Messenger, a global multimedia and public relations firm based In Sierra Leone. Sallu has worked on various developmental and policy issues such as Poverty, Climate Change, Human rights, Child Rights, Education, Health, Gender Equality, Civic Engagement, Government policies, Information Communication Technology for Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and has also been contributing to various global events and advocacy campaigns. Sallu Kamuskay is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Salone Messenger, a global Multimedia and Public Relations Firm based in Sierra Leone with the latest news and information, on top stories, business, politics, entertainment, and more. Sallu is working with a leading technology company in Africa, Techfrica, that has recently developed and launched a social media, messaging Supfrica with over 150,000 downloads on the Google play store in less than 4 days. He is the Adviser and Media coordinator for the App to give people the platform to connect and communicate to help shape their future with a very fast internet that allows users that live in deprived and hard-to-reach areas with poor internet facility to be able to communicate as it allows and stronger on 2 and 3 G network reception. Sallu has over 9 years of experience in youth engagement, inclusion, and coordination both at local and global levels, giving voice to young people and engaging young people to build a better world. He has served as coordinator for the Wave Alliance which brought together youth-led organisations who attended an international training in South Africa organized by the International Organization – Waves for Change. Sallu is working with the MLT, Waves For Change, and the Government to develop safe spaces for young people, with a view to contributing to the overall development goals of young people including health, as well as to community rebuilding. Sallu is currently the Programme Director for the Wave Alliance, which is a coalition of youth-led and community-based organisations that have successfully introduced evidence-based Surf Therapy programs to young people in communities, with a focus on mental health, peace building and sustainable development. Sallu is currently the focal point and face of Africa’s Faces Social media platform which is a global Social media platform that brings together people from across the world to share their moments, connect, share videos, and interact with friends giving more preference to excluded continents like Africa. Sallu Kamuskay has devoted his time to working for or contributing to a number of national and international organizations and companies, including the Techfrica Technology Company, United Nations, ECOWAS, European Union, Commonwealth Africa Initiatives. This work has led him to travel to a number of countries to contribute to global youth platforms. Sallu is the lead Coordinator for Peace Tour programme, an initiative supported by the European Union, Africa Union, ECOWAS focusing on uniting and empowering young people and local communities. Over the years, Sallu Kamuskay has been using his Techno phone to be able to tell stories, the phone he used to tell the story of Gbessay during Ebola who was admitted at one of the Ebola treatment centers after rumors that she had Ebola when the actual sickness was ulcer, she was almost abandoned at the treatment canter with no medication provided to her. She could have died. Sallu told the story via social media and was able to secure funding from the United Sierra Leone to buy her medication and advocated for her. She was later discharged and taken home, He did the same to a patient that died and was abandoned in the street, Sallu Kamuskay used his phone and shared the message across, the corps was later taken and buried. It could have been more disaster without his voice. The story of late America Stress 3-year-old daughter. The hero’s daughter was abandon after his father's death. He shared her sad story and was able to get a sister who has taken the child as her own and is currently providing her with educational support. The article of America Stress can be read on the link below http://ayvnewspaper.com/index.php/k2-categories/item/7350-america-stress-a-hero-to-recognize. Sallu Kamuskay feels the stories of Gbessay, America stress and that of many others need to be told. The media house we have cannot better tell these stories, they are better reporters than telling human interest stories. He created the Salone Messenger platform and brought together passionate storytellers to be able to tell these compelling stories.